Mexican-born film director Guillermo del Toro (Cronos, Hellboy, The Devil's Backbone) had wanted to make Pan's Labyrinth for a long time. Conceived as a fairy-tale that would appeal to adults, Pan's Labyrinth was his pet project, one that came to fruition at Cannes last year, when the director-writer said, "It's very dear to my heart. It's the movie I've done that I like the most, that most resembles the things I thought I would do when I began directing." Considering that he drew upon his childhood in his native Guadalajara (where he explored the sewer system, an experience replicated in an unforgettable scene in the movie) and spent years fine-tuning details of the central character's fantasy world, Pan's Labyrinth is undoubtedly Del Toro's baby.

The backdrop of this dark fantasy is chillingly real—the repressive regime of Franco’s fascist Spain, where the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War has ended but the aftermath is no less violent, with the Resistance fighters playing a deadly hide-and-seek game with Franco’s army, and the freedom-fighters’ sympathizers living in dread and peril.

Young Ofelia (played by the perfectly-cast 11-year-old Ivana Baquero) travels with her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil looking increasingly frail and vulnerable) to meet her step-father, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez giving an alarming and chilly portrayal of a monster), a brutal outpost commander. While following a magical dragonfly, Ofelia happens upon an enchanted archway within the gardens, one that would eventually lead her into a labyrinth. There, she meets a faun (mime Doug Jones), who tells her that she is a princess, and that her real father is impatient to welcome her back into their kingdom. But to prove her worthiness, she must accomplish three tasks, each more daunting than the one before.

Meanwhile, the situation at the outpost worsens, with the army and the Resistance both stepping up their offensive and Ofelia’s mother weakening from an increasingly difficult pregnancy. The housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdu of Y tu mama tambien) is kind to Ofelia, but she is caught up with the Resistance movement, as is the kindly doctor, the anguished Dr. Ferreiro (Alex Angulo) who attends to Ofelia’s mother. To save her mother and the unborn baby, Ofelia resorts to magic, but when her step-father finds out, the outcome is both shocking and dire. Yet Ofelia is resilient, courageous and resourceful. Determined to save her infant brother, she will stop at nothing, not even sacrifice.

Del Toro has out-grimmed the Brothers Grimm in this fairy tale where once-upon-a-time and happy-ever-after do not necessarily frame the story. After all, the original folk tales upon which many fairy tales are based were heavily sanitized before they were deemed suitable for children. Del Toro has merely kept the down-to-earth elements and presented us with the gritty truths underlying many a sterilized fable.

Perhaps Del Toro is implying that there is no greater horror than man’s own evil, and that fantasy—basically, our imagination (especially for a vulnerable child who has no recourse to anything else)—is our only means of survival, if not in body, then at least in spirit.

Blessed with a great script, perfectly cast and highly-talented actors (special mention must be given to little Ivana Baquera who lights up the screen and gives a poignant, nuanced and heart-breaking performance as Ofelia—the scene of her whispering to her unborn brother, telling him not to hurt their mother when he comes out into the world, made me cry), seamless special-effects, inspired cinematography, production design sets that capture the realism of bloody battle in the real world as well as the otherworldliness of Ofelia’s magical encounters, Pan's Labyrinth is at once grounded in realism and soaring with the splendors of that most fantastical aspect of the human mind—imagination.

A nearly perfect movie; one star off for the amount and degree of graphic violence. Rated R for both graphic violence and some language, Pan's Labyrinth is definitely not suitable for children. Only for mature adults; not for the faint-hearted.










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Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age